Get Healthy De Soto

…having a long-lasting positive impact on the health and safety of the De Soto community by encouraging healthy lifestyle choices, through programs promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition, weight control and disease and injury prevention.

For COVID-19 updates pertaining to the DeSoto Farmers' Market, please click here.

Happy Independence Day

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This time of year has always been a bit scary for me. I have a ton of cousins; a lot of them boys and older than me. They enjoyed bottle rocket wars and believed that the noisier the fireworks, the better! I did not share their enthusiasm.

Have a wonderful time celebrating Independence Day!

Have a great holiday weekend!

I did my part and introduced my daughters to “snakes” last year. My husband found those ridiculous, and he didn’t appreciate the thumb-burning he got the first time he tried to light one. He has assured me that those aren’t real fireworks. It isn’t that I oppose fireworks. I think they are really pretty…from a distance…a nice safe distance…like a couple of miles! I recall hiding on my grandmother’s porch during the evenings of the Fourth of July, and as an adult, I would much rather watch a fireworks display.

Of course, we aren’t supposed to congregate right now, so you’ll need to spread out to watch the firework’s display that the Lions Club is doing. That will begin sometime around 9 PM on Saturday, and the professionals running that display will be set up on the football field of the high school. (Considering my disdain for loud noises and my fear of being too close, do you think I can watch the display from a rooftop on Pratt Street?) It should be a nice display to celebrate our country’s independence, and it is safer than home displays that can lead to injury, fire, and deep trauma. (Maybe that trauma piece only applies to me.)

Tell me this character isn’t based on Mr. Magoo!

This short video is just a reminder that fireworks can be dangerous. It strongly discourages the use of consumer fireworks, and you need to use your own judgement about that. In the meantime, here are some other reminders:

  • Use fireworks cautiously.
  • They cause a lot of fires each year. “Fire” is part of the name, so have a bucket of water or extinguisher handy.
  • Watch toddlers carefully; you know how sneaky they can be. They can easily wind up far too close to their siblings’ firework pad, and their legs can’t carry them away fast enough.
  • That bucket of water also doubles as a place to extinguish those incredibly hot sparklers too. You can increase safety with sparklers by taking one out of the box and explaining how they work and what a child should and shouldn’t do with them while it is still light out! Odd concept, for sure, but let the kids see and hold the unlit sparkler in the kitchen, garage, etc. prior to actually playing with them outside. They can even model putting them into an empty bucket.
  • Remember that confetti cannons, glow sticks, and Pop Its rock too!

Stay Healthy

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We’re finishing up our articles in June by continuing to focus on men’s health. In case you missed it, we’ve covered recommended medical screenings, fitting more activity into your day, and tips for eating healthier. This week we’re focusing on overall health and how important it is based on our current situation.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a ton of discussion about washing your hands, wearing masks, and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces. Those things are generally important, and when dealing with such a contagious virus, it becomes even more important. However, overall good health makes you less susceptible to disease…even bacterial and viral infections. So why aren’t the medical experts, the media, and political leaders talking more about how we can take preemptive measures to improve our quality of life and not just our chances of surviving the pandemic?

Answer: panic mode.

It happens from time to time. Below you’ll find two handy bits of information you can use during our current situation. One is a list of simple ways to boost your immune system. The other is a simple way to remove some stress from your life.

Ways to boost immune system

  • exercise
  • eat a balanced diet
  • get some vitamin D through healthy exposure to sunlight or a supplement
  • improve your gut health by decreasing the preservatives consumed
  • get more sleep
  • lower your body’s fat levels if they are too high

A breathing exercise to help you find your calm

Surviving the pandemic is important. Whether you are a man or woman, improving your quality of life for the long-term so you do more than survive trumps that.

Men’s Health Screenings

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Randy Glasbergen

As with the last couple of weeks, we’re keeping the focus in June on men’s health. This week is all about health screenings that are recommended for men and the ages when those screenings become more frequent.

Regular checkups and age-appropriate screenings can improve your health and reduce premature death and disability. You should consult your healthcare provider to discuss if this screening schedule is appropriate for you. Also ask about the benefits of earlier screenings, especially if you are a member of a high risk group or have a family history of disease.

Sleeve Tattoo Anyone?

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I love a good sleeve tattoo. There is just something so…intriguing about it. Don’t get me wrong; I am ink free and so is my husband. I certainly wouldn’t mind it though. I just worry about how those age. Am I right? There’s a bit of sag that can make the likeness of your daughter look like Lucille Ball. That’s not appealing.

Some men age better than others, and since this is Men’s Health Month, our focus is all about men.

How well do men wear their sleeve tattoos past their mid-life crisis period?

Courtesy of Huffington Post

Okay, so that isn’t the actual topic, but some do quite well. It depends on how you age, which is determined by lifestyle, environment, and genetics. You can only control a couple of those elements (until gene splicing to cut out the bad and replace it with good becomes more than a Marvel movie).

Staying in good shape might allow you to wear your sleeve tattoo as well as this man. Of course, rocking an awesome white Billy Gibbons-style beard doesn’t hurt either.

Enter Ant Middleton! No, he doesn’t have a Gibbons beard because he is only 39 and not gray yet. He does have some serious tattoos and is the UK Special Forces version of Chris Kyle. Ant focuses on body weight exercises and the strength of positive thinking. He’s a great example of how mental health and sharpness can help you tackle your physical health goals. And because most of his workouts don’t require any equipment, they can easily be done at your home.

I’m not sure about the hand stand push-ups, and I haven’t seen him mention how to modify that one for someone who can’t stand on their hands, but you might check out some of his videos. Of course, you don’t have to do a SAS workout to focus on physical activity. You could also try these simpler options:

  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator. (This recommendation is in every move-more publication EVER! I’m not sure about you, but we could probably come up with a close estimate of the number of elevators in this county totaling less than 100, so I’m not sure how many of us have the luxury of actually using an elevator instead of the stairs.) On to more practical ways to incorporate movement into your lifestyle.
  • Take a stroll during your lunch break.
  • Play Cornhole!
  • Enjoy a bike ride with your kids or grand-kids. If you’re lamenting that you don’t have a bike, there are such things as pawn shops and second hand stores that will get you what you need.
  • Play Frisbee. I recommend Ultimate if you can find enough people, but a simple game of catch is great too. If you want to test your agility, play Frisbee with someone who is under 10 and lacks coordination. You’ll be chasing that Frisbee all over the place. Just be careful on that ladder when you retrieve said disc from the roof.
  • Go fishing. Crickets are relatively cheap, but with ultralight tackle and some cricket hooks: tons of fun. You might catch a mess of bluegill easily. You’ve missed the first spawn in June because the full moon was last week, but they’ll continue to spawn around each full moon until the water temperatures drop off again.

If you’ve made it this far through the article, you’re either making a list of things to try, or contemplating how to sneak these into the life of your dad, brother, spouse, etc. The important part is to choose activities that interest you.

Here’s a little secret though: if you’re trying to encourage increased physical activity in the life of a man you love, you have a bit of an advantage. Here’s why: my husband doesn’t normally go in for sports, but he played a lot of Ultimate Frisbee with me in college while we were dating. He did it because he was interested in me and not because he enjoyed Ultimate. The same can be said for my dad. He had stopped gardening, but when I started gardening in the desert of Albuquerque…well, he couldn’t be outdone! And he started gardening again because it interested me. Dads, husbands, men in general, are good about doing things for the sake of those they love, so if you can’t drag your dad to the lake to fish, try going yourself and ask him to come along.

Men’s Health Month

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June is Men’s Health Month, so we will be focusing on things that men should do to get and stay healthy and things that their families can do to encourage this.

Let’s face reality for just a moment. Men, although usually physically stronger than women, are not as adaptable to changing situations. Physiologically speaking, women are far superior! Okay, so that might just be an opinion. The truth is that research shows greater survival rates of women then men, but the reasons are not fully understood. Whether it is genetic or a result of environmental factors is not really known, and it is likely to be a combination of both. For example, more baby boys are born than girls; about 105:100 ratio during typical times. As time goes on, that shifts and the ratio favors women. Some of this is due to infant mortality rates, but the trend continues until the ratio is 80 men to every 100 women.

Enough of the science lesson though, let’s talk about men’s health. It is obviously important because it is a family issue. Men are expected to be there for their families in ways that are not social expectations for anyone else. This can put more stress on men and their fragile psyche. (Okay, I’ll stop #beingsilly.) There can be increased stress though, and that can lead to health issues later in life. For example, drinking, smoking, and an unhealthy diet are all things both genders do to cope with stress. And sadly, those are all things that contribute to some of the causes of death of American men, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

So what to do…

Preventing premature death is a top goal of Men’s Health Month. There are some simple things that can be done, such as eating healthy foods and limiting unhealthy ones, moving more, and limiting your alcohol and tobacco products.

I know the healthy eating part can be hard. Meat…potatoes! [Insert Tim “the Toolman” Taylor grunt here.] Start by using a smaller plate, making sure there is something green on it, and that your portion of red meat is limited to 2 ounces less than what you would normally eat. That should be doable and is a good place to start.

We’ll delve deeper into how men can get moving more next week, so be looking for that information too.

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DeSoto, MO 63020